//------------------------------// // Chapter X: Silent Flight/True Intentions // Story: Star Trek Online: Darkness Rising // by Admiral Wyatt Stone //------------------------------// U.S.S. Antares Weapons Room The room was noisy with metal clanks and the cocking of phaser rifles as several ponies gathered their gear up, barely any words being spoken as they placed their last pieces of gear on them, of the seven team members being sent to the facility, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Flash, and of course Twilight were gathered up within the weapons room, wearing environmental suits as they prepped themselves up. Applejack took a look at her sister as the filly turned to her and spoke. "Well, it'll be fun to work with Creepy again, I hope her friend is still alive over there." "Let's hope you're right on that, I couldn't imagine what would've happened to her when she was taken by them." Applejack said as she placed a scope on her rifle, a click sounding from it before she placed it on her back and trotted over to her friends, Applebloom following suite as she finished. "Well, with Creepy with us, I don't think we'll have too much to worry about." Twilight cleared her throat once all of her friends were in place. "Alright, so, our plan is to make a space jump onto the station in an attempt to sneak in, get inside, find the prisoners, and maybe get some intel about why the Tzenkethi fleet is attacking other planets. We'll be using stealth gear for the job, but try to stay vigilant, this facility is in another place that may not be in our universe, so who knows what trouble they'll have in store for us." Rainbow Dash gave a vicious smirk as she spoke up. "Cool, I've been wanting to give those freaks a run for their money after what they did to us." Twilight, while understanding Dash's emotional focus at the moment, kept her sternness as she finished. "And, I understand that the Tzenkethi have put us all through horrible experiences lately, but I don't want any emotional issues blocking us from getting the job done, we'll all have the chance to do that later, am I clear?" She said as she gave a look to Dash, who gave an embarrassed smile as she replied. "Yes ma'am." "Good, now follow m-" She started to say but stopped as the doors opened to show a filly with dark-yellow fur and a yellow and red 23rd Century tunic apparently made for equines her size, and next to her was Terrak's companion, wearing a suit that seemed to be an environmental suit for his race. Saving the princess's breath, he stood firmly as he spoke. "Your friend will not be the only one coming, Terrak has requested that I accompany you all to the station, I can help you gain access to the station without having to risk destroying a security camera or two." "Aw yeah, now we can really show'em who's boss!" Scootaloo said with a grin before Creepy spoke after. "Yeah, and Ah've manage to make some special gear during mah time on the Amarillo, and Ah think they'll come in handy." "I'm sure they will," Applebloom said before looking to Twilight and finishing with, "We're ready when you are." The princess looked to Terrak's officer and Creepybloom before they gave her nods as a sign of confirmation. "Let's get down to the shuttlebay, then!" The group then made their way out of the room and raced to the shuttlebay, keeping a steady pace as they made their way through the halls. Dash took a look at her Tzenkethi companion, giving a curious look before speaking. "Ya know, after all of this, you haven't given us your name." The soldier gave a chuckle as he answered the mare. "Ah, yes, I forgot a while ago... you can call me Taluk." ~Shuttlebay~ The area was ablaze with weapons fire from two sides of the area, the Alliance ships and the Tzenkethi assault force. Not a moment after arriving did the battle return to the two fleets and beams and torpedoes shot from varying ships and fighters, the Antares however, sat away from the battle, both the fleets ignoring them. On the bridge, Tarsi sat in the Captain's Chair, observing the battlefield as she heard a beep from her chair's armrest, looking down at it and tapping it before Twilight's voice sounded through the panel. "Sparkle to Bridge, we're ready." Tarsi turned towards an officer at the helm console before ordering, "Helm, full impulse towards the docking arm facing us," She then turned to another officer behind her and ordered, "Lieutenant, engage the cloaking device!" The officers nodded and performed their tasks, the ship distorted and faded completely into nothing before it sped towards the nearby arm of the station, the ship jerking to the left before it faced away from the structure, the shuttlebay now almost nose-to-nose with the nearby shuttlepod docking doors on the front of the arm. The shuttlebay, besides being larger and having several small bays for shuttlecraft, was nearly in it's usual state, the only changes being no shuttles deployed and no other officers other than Twilight and her group who'd arrived moments ago. Twilight and her group took a good look at the square section on the dark hull as the shuttlebay doors, taking a breath before looking to her officers and asking, "Everyone ready?" The group took another look at themselves before giving a nod to the alicorn as she spoke once more. "Excellent, on my mark..." The group then place their legs and hooves in sturdy-looking positions, getting ready to activate their boosters. "NOW!" Upon her word, Twilight and the rest of the group tapped a button on their wristbands before their boosters shot out energetic flames from their thrusters, shooting each of them out of the ship and flying towards the door on the docking arm. The group flew for a short moment before they each landed on the hull one at a time, Scootaloo being the last one to touch the surface. Twilight then turned to Dash and asked, "OK, Dash, could you could you cut us through the doors, please?" Dash nodded before she pulled out her phaser rifle and proceeded to fire a beam onto the hull. "Well, I'm really customizing this baby once this is over." The pegasus said quietly as she focused her slicing. Twilight then turned to Flash and gave a hopeful smile as she spoke to him. "Well, I'm hoping that after we get this whole storm to blow over, we can have some time together." Flash gave a smile as well as he spoke, his voice becoming quieter as he continued. "Yeah, maybe some time in Canterlot or Ponyville will bring some fun for us, by the way, between you and me, I was able to talk to Soarin when I went to see one of their shows on one of my shore leaves, and you'll never guess who he plans to go on a dat-" The guard stopped when the pair heard a loud whooshing sound behind them before turning to see the air from the inside of the hull blasting out and into Dash's face, her head blowing back but not snapping off as the air blast finally subsided, Dash wiping her screen as she looked to the group and spoke. "OK, maybe don't put your face over a door sealing an oxygen-filled room when you cut it open." The group gave a slight laugh before they all flipped into the small hallway one by one, This time Dash being the last one to enter the room as the group looked for any buttons within. After a short moment, Flash saw a button on the left wall, giving a smirk as he spoke. "Ah, this should fix us up." He said before tapping the button, a pair of additional doors sealing behind the group before a low klaxon sounded within the room, the officers readying themselves before a powerful force pulled them down to the floor, hooves and feet landing in time as they hit the ground hard yet steady. After observing the room once more, Pinkie looked to Twilight and spoke as the group made their way to the door nearby. "So, I'm assuming we're going to take one of the captured ships once we're done here?" "Exactly my idea, Pinkie." Twilight said before everyone tapped their wristbands and their bodies faded in a flash. Upon the doors opening, Taluk gave a quick peek down both ways in the hallway, not making a noise as he looked back and motioned his friends to follow him, all of them walking quietly down the left side as he turned and asked Applejack quietly, "Applejack, do you know where the brig is at?" The farmgirl took a look at her scanner before she gave her answer. "I believe it's up ahead, it'll be a walk though. I've also picked up a science lab that's right up here." "Excellent, there we can get our information and continue on towards the brig afterwards." Taluk said before he stopped to see a Tzenkethi soldier in front of the door, a rifle in his hand as he stood guard for the room behind him. "Well, there's the lab.... and a bit of trouble." Creepybloom said quietly. "Not for long, Pinkie, come with me." Dash said as the two mares made their way towards another open hallway and got behind a wall near the door. The two then crouched down to sit in front of a section of the wall before Dash tapped her wrist pad several times before looking to Twilight. Seeing the alicorn's nod through her tactical goggles, she turned to Pinkie and asked, "Pinkie, do you still have that pressurizer we made earlier?" "Yep." The party pony said eagerly as she snatched the mentioned, circular device from her hind gear holster before handing it to Dash, who placed it on the wall and tapped the device a few times and twisted it's switch before she turned to Pinkie and spoke. "If I'm right, this little baby will trigger a breach in the gas pipes inside th-" She was cut off as the device did it's work and an explosion sounded from the other side, coughing sounding from the other side before Dash grabbed the device and placed it in her holster before the two ponies raced back to the group, who were waiting at the door near the suffocating guard as Taluk reached down and grabbed something from the officer's suit. "This should permit us access inside." He was correct as he took the data chip and placed it in front of the door's scanner, which flashed a yellowish green upon scanning. As the doors opened, the group sped inside, the doors shutting as they all stopped to inspect for security cameras. Spotting two of them, Twilight used her magic to crush the cameras into tiny fragments, allowing safe exploration for the officers as they investigated the room. "Well, for a research facility, they sure don't keep an eye on their projects." Applejack said as she noticed no one else in the room with her and her friends, the room itself was triangular in the wall design, several computers and consoles were spread out across the room, between every two to three consoles or so being some kind of container, some of them empty, as the group took a look at several of them, they noticed several known and strange creatures within them, one of them was a tribble, another was a strange slug of some kind with dark, crusty skin. Several others consisted of strange creatures, one of them was an adorable one, the creature was a quadruple, and had a main layer of white fur, with a few sections of pink going around some parts of it's body and around it's ears, which also had two ribbons with a small patch of pink and blue on them, as well as a little pink bow on it's chest, and the creatures eyes were a bluish color. Fluttershy was in love with the creature, giving a sad look as she saw the terrified animal cower in fear. "Oh, you poor thing, Twilight, do you think we could get this little guy out? He looks scared." Twilight took a look at the small animal as it yelped helplessly within it's cage. "SYLVEON! SYLVEON!" Seeing the fear on the creature's face, the princess looked to Taluk, who went over and tapped several keys on the computer before the container opened and freed the thing from it's prison, hopping onto Fluttershy's back as she chuckled slightly. Unlike the creature whom they assumed was called a 'Sylveon', another creature was fierce and sent a shiver down everyone's spines, it floated within it's glass prison, and had a green, slightly clear shell that exposed a red organic section inside, below that were around four fangs, two small ones in the front and two large ones in the back of the creature. Fluttershy gave an uncomfortable squeal upon seeing the floating monster, almost wanting to yelp in terror. "What is that thing?!" She said in a high-pitched manner. "I don't know, but I'm not letting THAT one out, who knows what it could do to us." Taluk said, the Sylveon holding onto Fluttershy as she opened up one of her saddlebags and placed the creature into it. Fluttershy then turned to see a console that stood out from the rest, it was wider and seemed to have been accessed as it was left on a certain screen. "Maybe we can find out some things from that console." The pegasus said as she and the others made their way over to the console, Taluk, Dash, and Scootaloo turning around to keep guard for anyone that may come inside the room. Twilight observed the console for a moment before noticing something. "Ah, this should be it." Twilight said before tapping a section of the screen with her hoof several times, the screen changing a few times before she saw something that caught her eye. "A video log? Let's see what this can show us." The princess said before she tapped the small section of the screen before it enlarged and revealed a familiar face, it was Trinnak, looking into the screen with a stern expression on his face, his voice sounding low and slightly moved as he spoke. "Research log: Timestamp: 4402.87, my comrades and I have found several worlds of these strange creatures, some of them posing a possible threat to our species. We are still undertaking examinations, but I plan to see the expiration of two of them, a quadrupled that has the ability to attack with powers we're astounded by could harm us if used by our enemies, another one that we found with a woman was very dangerous, it floats and sucks the life force from another creature, and it is one that I've already placed under the termination list. We've tried everything, but not a single thing can harm it. However, one of my colleagues claims it is vulnerable to cold, so we'll be placing it in one of our coolant bays that we've shut down for maintenance later on." Twilight took another look at the strange creature before she thought for a moment. Despite the risky decision she was choosing, she turned to Dash and spoke. "I might be stupid for saying this, but I want you to take that container and hold onto it, I think it could be valuable." Reluctantly, Dash nodded as she and Taluk went over to grab the creature, Twilight turning around to watch the rest of the video log. "On another issue, while I respect the Autarch, he is a fool for some of the choices he's made, we should be wiping the galaxy of the Federation rather than hunting down insects and other galactic plagues in the galaxy. Some of my comrades believe this to be personal desires of vengeance, and indeed it is, but it is for good reason. Our people were massacred by the 'peaceful' Federation and their Klingon allies during the old war, and with talk of their new 'Universal Alliance', I have chosen to make an example of one of their new allies... an earth like planet they call Equis." The group let out loud gasps as they heard Trinnak's words, Fluttershy giving a squeal of terror as she shivered in fear and spoke. "Why do they want to hurt us?! What did we do to them?!" "Most likely to attract attention from our allies, to start another war, a REAL one." Twilight said with worry as she focused on the last section of the video. "The planet mostly sustains sentient Earth animals, mythological and real, equines, dragons, griffons, and several others. While they are mostly peaceful, they shall unfortunately be one of many examples of why the Alliance should not play God with other realms.... This concludes this log entry." The screen cut to a shot of static, buzzing sounding from it as the group began to converse, Rainbow Dash being the first to start. "Well, now we know why they wanna kill us." She said with annoyance. "Indeed, and with the fact that they're planning to end billions of lives on our homeworld, we have to stop them before they can do so. Let's get to the brig and rescue the prisoners and then head to-" Twilight said before she stopped as the doors opened to reveal several Tzenkethi officers, their weapons ready and aimed at the group. With quick precision, Dash and Tulak activated shield barriers in front of the group, protecting them from harm as green beams and bolts fired from the attackers. Wasting no time in doing so, Twilight tapped the console again to access the data controls, pulling out a small chip as she spoke loudly. "Cover me, I'm going to get the data from this thing! It should only take a moment!" The group proceeded to provide cover fire as the firefight grew brighter. Flash steadied his rifle before he broke cover and fired three good shots at one of the attackers, the warrior falling before another of the now five remaining soldiers aiming at him as he took cover once again. Scootaloo pulled out a pair of plasma grenades before pulling their plugs and throwing them at the five soldiers, the balls exploding and spreading gas around the attackers. Taking a look at them, two of them were down and three of them held their ground. The small Sylveon tried to shake itself from Fluttershy's bag as she looked down in worry. "Wait, you don't wanna get hurt out there, do you?!" The creature merely said it's name as a sign of response, Fluttershy placing it in her bag once again as the shots kept coming. Applejack pulled out a unique-looking turret and placed it on the ground before it readied itself and began shooting what appeared to be apples at the Tzenkethi, the warriors losing their guard as they inspected the small fruits before they exploded and splattered all over the three. Taking the chance, Applejack, Applebloom and Creepybloom fired their shots at the three soldiers, two of them falling down in pain as the last one slowly got up and quickly deployed a small shield in front of him. Twilight kept her eyes on the screen as she waited for the chip to complete the download, gritting her teeth as the bar nearly filled itself. Upon the bar becoming full, Twilight swiftly pulled out the chip and placed it into her holster on her left hind leg, turning to her friends as she spoke. "I've got it, let's go!" The group then began to get up and ready themselves for an attack on the last attacker. The Sylveon began to break free from Fluttershy's bag again, this time jumping out and sprinting towards the enemy trooper. "WAIT! DON'T GO OVER THERE!" Fluttershy screamed in terror before the Tzenkethi readied himself and fired, the animal dodging the shots with swift maneuverability. Upon getting close, the creature shot a large pink blast at the Tzenkethi, knocking him down with ease, but not killing him. The group stood shocked as they witnessed the sight, the Sylveon coming back to Fluttershy and hopping in her bag as Taluk shot at the dying warrior. "Well, we don't have time to waste, let's get to the brig!" Twilight said as they raced out of the room, not looking back at the room as they passed the doors. As they made a turn towards the left of the hall, several more soldiers noticed their escape and a few shots came from behind the group, one of them hitting Creepybloom in the flank, forcing a yelp from her as she pushed onward. "Creepy!" Applejack said in worry as she looked back at the filly. "NGH! Ah'll be fine, let's get going!" She said as they then focused their eyes forward, keeping an eye out for any additional attackers as they neared the brig.